Bellagio Fire Shuts Down Vegas Strip

Date Written: Apr 15, 2017

Written by: Alexander Brandon

A large rooftop fire at the Bellagio Hotel shut down the Las Vegas Strip on Thursday night, although no injuries were reported. The alarm was sounded at 10:46 and firefighters arrived shortly after and were able to put out the fire after some difficulty.

The fire ignited on the roof of the Bellagio Hotel and Casino, which made it difficult to access. According to Larry D. Haydu, Clark County Fire Department assistant fire chief, it took a total of 10 engines and 77 personnel to combat the fire. At roughly 11:09 PM the fire was put out. The location of the fire also presented bystanders with an ample opportunity to snap photos of the famous hotel and casino, adding to the publicity woes of the Bellagio in 2017.

The ‘Pyrotechnics’ Show

Many bystanders were prepared for the fountain show, which was able to go on at 11:00 PM. Some even admitted that they thought the fire was some sort of pyrotechnic display that was included in the dancing fountain show. “It was kinda unreal,” said Sean Kim, who was able to capture the scene on video via his phone. “At first I thought it was a pyrotechnics display. We thought it was part of the show. Then we thought, ‘Huh. That doesn’t look right.’”

Not long after it began to smell like burning plastic and bystanders began to evacuate the premises. Haydu said foam building material fueled the flames, but the fire was contained to the roof and did not reach the inside of the mall. The fire caused an estimated $400,000 in damage, mostly to the roof of the Via Bellagio shops. As of now there is no suspicion as to how the fire started or whether or not there are any building code violations.

A String of Bad Luck for Bellagio

Add this to the list of bad PR for the Bellagio, who was recently in the news for an armed robbery at the end of March. A team of five to seven burglars wearing suits and pig masks robbed the Bellagio Rolex store and were taken into custody by authorities. Like the fire on Thursday, people took to Twitter posting pictures of a person wearing a pig mask, standing under a Rolex sign.

Las Vegas Metropolitan’s Lt. Carlos Hank compared the burglary to something straight out of a movie scene and confirmed that the suspects were armed. Police were able to apprehend the gang of thieves after they fled to a nearby parking garage, where they were unable to start their getaway vehicle.

After just a few months of the New Year The Bellagio will hope that it can change its luck before 2018.